


Cover Story

by zniamkisses



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Age Play, Diapers, Infantilism, M/M, Other, The X Factor Era, for now at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-17
Updated: 2014-12-17
Packaged: 2018-03-01 23:30:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2791676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zniamkisses/pseuds/zniamkisses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall's new to all of this- the pressure, the fame, the stress. He tries to hide it, but Zayn notices. Because Zayn notices everything about Niall</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: zniamkisses  
> wattpad: thewhimsical

“I’m going to be calling out who is rooming with who for the duration of bootcamp, so pay attention,” yelled some man into a microphone.

Zayn really wanted to tell him that he didn’t have to yell; he had a microphone after all. He figured it was for dramatic effect as everything was for this show. He waited some time to hear his name called, and finally it was.

“Zayn Malik and Niall Horan, room 347.”

Zayn shrugged a bit. He didn’t know a Niall, but then again he didn’t know most of the people here. He grabbed his suitcase and collected a room key from the woman at the front before heading to the assigned room. Once he got there, he stood outside the door and just hoped that whoever he’d been roomed with wasn’t a total jerk. Zayn could get along with most people; he was mostly nice and caring. The caring part came more from having little sisters than anything else. Finally, he reached into his pocket and took out the room key. He slid it through the lock and stepped in slowly.

Zayn walked down the small hallway until he got to the bedroom part of the moderately-sized hotel room. Standing next to one of the beds was a shorter blonde boy. He had his suitcase open and a few of the drawers in the dresser next to the bed open as well. He looked a little worried, biting his lip and bouncing on the balls of his feet discreetly.

“Niall?” Zayn asked from where he was standing. He watched as the boy jumped and then turned around quickly.

“Yeah,” Niall breathed. “You must be Zayn. You scared me.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you,” Zayn said apologetically. He picked up his suitcase again and began to set it on the bed next to Niall’s.

“Sorry! I didn’t ask which bed you wanted, we can switch if you don’t want that one or-” Niall started anxiously.

“It’s really fine. I’m not picky. A bed is a bed and all that, right?” Zayn said, smiling at Niall. He was clearly nervous, twisting his fingers together and biting the inside of his cheek.

“Yeah, right. Okay,” Niall said, starting to unpack his things.

 

Niall knew it was all part of the plan. He knew as soon as he got through the audition stage that he would be going to bootcamp and rooming with someone else, probably a stranger. He prepared himself for the entire month between his audition and boot camp, and still as his mom pulled up and helped him get his things out of the car, he was so nervous he felt like he was going to get sick. Obviously, all of this is what he wanted. But he’d watched X Factor before; some of the things contestants went through were awful.

“Niall, love, help me with these bags,” Niall heard his mom say. “And stop biting your nails. They’re getting to be much too short,” she admonished lightly. She helped Niall into the building with his bags and set them down before turning to hug her son.

“You’re going to do great, Niall. I just know you are,” she said in his ear.

Niall hugged her back. “I’m really nervous,” he said, inhaling a shaky breath.

His mom squeezed him before pulling back to look at him. “I’ve packed your night time pants just in case it gets to be too much. They’re in the bottom of your suitcase,” she said quietly.

 

Niall looked at her in horror. “I don’t need those, mom!” he said, his face going red. “I haven’t in years.”

“Shh, I know,” she said, smoothing his hair. “Just humor me. Call it a mother’s instinct.”

 

If Niall would have known right then that she would be right, he probably would have turned around and given up. He was always so nervous, and even though Zayn seemed nice enough, he couldn’t help but feel weird staying with a stranger. He spent most of his time during boot camp in the commons area singing with a guitar in hand. That was the only thing that made him feel like himself anymore. Even though he wasn’t necessarily trying to attract attention, people always flocked around him and sang along or just listened to him. For a few moments, it would make him feel like he was actually talented enough to be there, like the pressure was disappearing and it was just all about the music again.

Of course, it did only last for a few moments.

About a week into boot camp, things really started getting to Niall. He was always an easy crier, and when he was younger he used to wet the bed when he was stressed at school. That was when he was at home with his way-too-nice mom. Now he was here, at the X Factor of all places, and no, there was no way this could be happening to him.

The first time it happened, Niall luckily woke up at about 3 in the morning. He sat up abruptly and anxiously pulled at his hair. Niall was just a sixteen-year-old boy whose mom had always taken care of these sorts of things. How was he supposed to know what to do with his wet bedclothes? He scrambled out of the bed and yanked the sheets off, running to the bathroom across the room and stripping off his wet, cold pants and underwear. He quickly jumped in the shower and scrubbed himself clean, not even caring what time it was and how he was probably waking Zayn up.

As soon as he got out of the shower, he stumbled to his suitcase in the dark and got out some new clothes. Bless his mom for packing so much for him. If Niall had his choice it would have just been a few t-shirts and a couple pairs of jeans. Niall tripped and fell with a loud thunk on the floor when he was reaching for his phone. He held his breath for a moment before thanking God that Zayn was such a heavy sleeper. He tiptoed out of the room and grabbed the wet sheets before leaving the room, calling his mom as he went. Miraculously, his mom answered on the last ring.

“Niall, darling?” he heard his mom ask sleepily into the phone.

“Mom,” Niall finally cried.

“What is it, Niall? Why are you awake at this hour?” She asked, quickly waking up and sitting up in bed.

“Mom, I-I wet the bed, and I don’t know what to do, and I don’t want Zayn finding out, and I don’t know how to get new sheets, and,” Niall rambled, letting a few tears slip out along the way.

“Niall,” his mom cut him off. “Go put your dirty sheets through the shoot to the laundry hamper. Then go to the front desk as ask them for some new sheets. If they or anyone needs an explanation, say you spilled a drink on them, yeah? And promise me that from now on you’ll wear the pull-ups,” she added at the end.

Niall did exactly as she said, but pulled a face at the last thing. “I’m sure it was just a one-time thing, Mom,” he said, heading toward the front desk.

“Niall, please. I don’t have a problem helping you with these things, but you need your sleep. And so do I,” she said patiently.

“Alright,” Niall muttered, not actually planning on doing what she said. He quickly said goodbye to his mom as he approached the service desk. He easily got new sheets from the nice lady at the counter and breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way back to the room. He walked in and shut the door quietly behind him, but gasped when he turned around to see Zayn walking out of the bathroom, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Hey, Ni,” he yawned. “Where’ve you been? It’s too early.”

“Um, I,” Niall stuttered. “I had to, uh, get new sheets. I just, I spilled a coke all over myself and the sheets, and it got everywhere,” he rushed out.

Zayn looked at him skeptically for a moment before chuckling and making his way back to bed. “You’re a proper klutz, aren’t you mate?”

“Yeah I guess,” Niall mumbled.

 

Unsurprisingly, Niall didn’t heed his mother’s warnings and neglected to wear pull ups to bed. Somehow he logically knew that it would be far less obvious than it was to get out of bed every night to take a shower and fix his sheets. He got smart the second time and just requested extra sheets to the room to hide in the closet. Finally, though, after wetting the bed four times, Niall gave in and began wearing pull ups. He was mortified, and he made sure to keep everything very hidden from Zayn’s watchful eyes. He didn’t think he ever got much past Zayn though.

 

“We’ve decided to put the five of you in a group,” Simon told them. For the first time since being brought back out on the stage, Niall looked around at the other four boys. He recognized all of them, and obviously he already knew Zayn. Liam and Zayn were already friends from what Niall knew and the other two boys, who Niall didn’t know the names of, were obviously close as well. Nonetheless, Niall smiled so big he thought his tear-streaked face was going to break because he was staying in the competition. He jumped up and down with the other boys like an excited toddler and gave Zayn a hug. And for a moment, the excitement covered up the stress.


	2. Chapter Two

The thing about being in a band with four other lads was that there was no privacy. The first thing the five boys did when they found out that they would be in a band together was sit down and discuss where they should go to practice. Harry, the boy with curly hair that Niall hadn’t know before, quickly suggested going to his step-dad’s bungalow.   
"No one lives there," he confirmed. "It’s like a little guest house. There’s a pool," Harry added.   
They all agreed, and it was final. They packed their bags and got on the next train to Cheshire. Everything was happening so quickly, and Niall was so excited that he almost forgot all about his accidents.  
Almost being the key word.

 

Zayn sat next to Niall on the train. He sensed that he was a little uncomfortable, and he wanted to make him feel better. He knew that Niall didn’t have anyone to go to and that he hadn’t seen his family since the competition started, and he felt sympathy for him.   
"Hey, Niall," Zayn started after the train had been moving for about five minutes.   
"Yeah?" Niall responded.   
"I just want you to know that if you, like, ever need anyone to talk to or anything, I’m here for you, yeah?" Zayn said seriously.   
Niall smiled, but Zayn knew it wasn’t just in gratitude. He seemed relieved in a way, and Zayn was overjoyed that he might have taken away at least a little bit of Niall’s never-ending list of worries.   
Zayn sat back and relaxed, falling asleep for the duration of the train ride. Niall sat looking mindlessly out the window and occasionally playing games on his phone. He was trying to stay busy because, truthfully, he was exhausted from the last couple of weeks on The X Factor, but he couldn’t risk falling asleep and having an accident. He was still resisting the full-time nappy thing; it was bad enough that he was a sixteen year old boy that needed them at night. He finally allowed himself to relax when he saw that they were almost to the train station. Since he was the only one that managed to stay awake, he shook Zayn’s shoulder to wake him up and then turned to get everyone else awake.   
Harry and Louis were enerjetic and exuded happiness as soon as they woke up, and Niall just wondered how they did it. He was normally somewhat hyper, but these two seemed to be all the time. He supposed it was a good balance to Liam and Zayn who were mostly serious and businesslike.   
The train finally stopped and the boys got off after collecting their bags. Harry excitedly led the way to where he knew his mother would be meeting them to take them all to the bungalow. He ran to his mom when he saw her, and Niall felt a flash of jealousy that Harry got to mom while his own was in a different country. Harry quickly introduced all of the boys to his mother, Anne. She was quick to hug each one of them and tell them how proud and happy she was for them. Niall found himself smiling at how caring she was. It was obvious what a great mom she was and why Harry loved her so much.   
They all piled into the SUV that Anne drove and rode for the short journey across town. As soon as they pulled up to the small house that was just down the road from Harry’s actual house, all of the boys scrambled out of the car and into it.   
"You boys be good," Anne said out of the window before she left.   
There were two rooms in the bungalow, so naturally, Harry and Louis took one, and Liam paired up with Zayn after Niall offered to take the couch. He really just panicked at the idea of sharing a bed with anyone. He would rather sleep on his own than be too scared to sleep.

 

Niall once again panicked when the idea of having a “sleepover” in the living room was brought up by Louis. He thought for sure he was in the clear, but on the third night of their stay, it was decided that all of the boys would drag the mattresses into the living room to make one giant bed for all five of them to sleep on. Niall was worried, but convinced that all he would have to do was wear a nappy and sleep on an end, and everything would be fine. That’s what he’d been doing anyway since he was petrified to stain the couch he was sleeping on.   
Of course, nothing works out in Niall’s favor though.   
Since Niall had apparently been “lonely and neglected cuddles from sleeping on the couch,” Harry and Louis insisted that Niall sleep right in the middle of the bed. Niall refused at first, but Harry and Louis were persistent, and Niall ended up just giving up. He was forced between Zayn and Louis, with Liam and Harry gathered around on the other sides of them.   
Niall came to discover from laying next to him that Louis was loud and obnoxious, but for some reason he really liked him. He liked all of the boys for different reasons really. Zayn was quiet, but he had the benefit of knowing Niall the longest, and he was always friendly. Harry was liked by everyone because he was just… likeable. And Liam was serious. He was the one to keep them focused because there was little to no concentration when Louis was around. Normally, Niall wouldn’t think of seriousness as a likeable trait, but Liam had a way of approaching it gently, and Niall really liked him.   
The five of them laid there talking to each other in the dark. This was probably one of Niall’s favorite times- when they all sat around as a group and stopped messing around and talked for real. It wasn’t always deep, but they were all still trying to get to know each other, so it was nice to hear some childhood stories or something about one another’s families. Niall found himself actually relaxing into the conversation. He was finally to the point that he felt comfortable around the other boys, and it was relieving in a way. It was stressful to only think of Zayn as someone to turn to, but in a few short days, Niall felt like they were all at least acquaintances.   
Sometime during the conversation, Niall fell asleep, curled up in the middle of the giant bed and facing Zayn. He felt comfortable, and for now, he’d take it.

 

Niall woke up in a panic. He’d dreamed of waterfalls and rain and waves and anything that made a person have to pee at night, and he had. At first he wasn’t concerned. He knew he had a nappy on, and he was good enough by now to know how to change it discreetly in the morning. However, this time, it had leaked and it was getting Niall’s pajama pants wet. He looked for the easiest way to get out of the giant cuddle pile and whined when he saw that there was definitely no simple way to get out without waking someone up. He decided against his better judgement and crawled out of the bed, struggling to get to his feet and ultimately falling to the floor at the end of the bed loudly. He sighed in relief when it appeared that no one woke up and quickly left to go to the bathroom with a new pair of sweats.   
What Niall didn’t know was that Zayn had woken up. He watched him curiously through the dark looking all nervous and rifling through his bag for other pants. Zayn decided not to disturb anything as he would probably wake Liam, who had thrown an arm across Zayn’s chest in his sleep, up.   
Niall quickly took care of the little leak and after wrapping his pants into a tight ball, he snuck out the back door to throw away the wet nappy in the big trashcan. He quickly made his way back to the bed. He considered just sleeping the rest of the night on the couch, but he knew that he would wake up to a slew of questions about what had provoked him to move. So, he slid back into his spot carefully and yawned before starting to fall asleep.  
"You alright, Niall?" Zayn asked quietly from beside Niall.   
Niall squeaked in surprise, looking at Zayn and nodding quickly. “Sorry I woke you up,” Niall whispered.  
"It’s fine. What happened? Is everything okay?" Zayn asked, looking concerned.   
"I’m fine. Just had to use the bathroom," Niall mumbled, trying not to sound too nervous.   
"Okay," Zayn allowed. "Goodnight, Niall."  
"Goodnight," Niall said. But he couldn’t fall back asleep.


	3. Chapter Three

Niall had a problem.   
Not like one of Louis’ meltdowns about not having packed the shirt he wanted to wear today, or Liam’s about how the harmonies in their song weren’t quite blending. No, he had a serious problem.  
Niall was always built very slim. He was skinny and short, and that made it easy for him to wear the biggest size of pull-ups at night. Because they were for children, though, they were thinner than what a 16-going-on-17 year old needed. He found that the time that his diaper had leaked in the middle of the night when he was surrounded by the other guys in bed was apparently not a one-time thing. And the thing was, he didn’t know how to fix it. He was too embarrassed to even tell him mom, and she was the one that pushed the diaper thing in the first place.   
So now, it was barely even 2:00 in the morning, and Niall was sat on the toilet with his head in his hands, pulling on his hair in frustration. He had packed three pairs of sweats to sleep in for the week and now it was day five, and he had two more nights to go and no more pants. And he knew that if he went to sleep with just the pull-up on, it would leak on the couch, and that was the last thing he needed. Not to mention that the other boys would definitely notice. And if he just slept in his boxers, he would definitely soak everything.  
So, Niall now felt incredibly helpless. He finally stood up and pulled on the boxers he’d brought in the bathroom with him before leaving the bathroom and tugging on some jeans in frustration. He sat on the couch stubbornly. He had decided that staying awake was the only way to ensure that he didn’t wet himself, so that was what he was going to do. Niall reached across the side table and grabbed his phone, pulling up a game and settling into the couch for a long night.

 

Niall was a normally cheery person. But not when he was running on just over two hours of sleep. All of the other boys had gotten out of bed and started the day at around 9 or 10 and were surprised to see Niall already awake and dressed. Usually he was nearly last to wake up even though he slept in the living room. Zayn was naturally the first to notice the dark circles under Niall’s eyes and the dejected way he was tapping on his phone. He frowned at the little blonde boy and went to go sit next to him.  
“You alright, Niall?” Zayn asked, trying to look over his shoulder inconspicuously. All he managed to see was the he was currently texting his mom.  
“Yeah,” Niall mumbled, not looking up at Zayn so that he couldn’t see how exhausted he probably looked.   
“Okay,” Zayn said unsure, “well, Harry’s mom brought us pastries and doughnuts for breakfast. How about we go get some?”  
“Okay,” Niall said, still looking down at his phone. He was currently texting his mother just to stay busy and make himself a little less homesick. He knew that he was avoiding the actual problem, but he just really didn’t want to talk about what was going on with anyone, including his mom.   
He stood up slowly and followed Zayn into the kitchen. The other boys greeted him cheerily, energized from their full night’s sleep. Niall wanted to return their greetings, but he couldn’t help but be grouchy and jealous. He wished that he could sleep and not have to be worried about wetting himself and needing to change and hide so many things from everyone. He decided to force a small smile to all of them and grab a few doughnuts before sitting down at the table next to Zayn.   
Zayn watched him carefully, trying to figure out what was wrong with him today. He knew that something had to be bothering Niall, and he wished that he would confide in him, but Zayn knew from just a week or two with all of the boys that they all had different ways of coping and dealing with things. The only problem was that Niall wasn’t usually good at dealing with them. Just like the other day when all of them talked about when the next time they were visiting their families was, and all of them had excitedly shared that they would be going home in the next few weeks. Niall, however, had bit his lip and picked at his fingernails, admitting to them that he didn’t think he’d be able to go home until the show was done. Zayn’s heart broke for him because he knew Niall was upset, but Niall had forced himself to smile and ignore the sad feeling in his stomach.   
And now that Niall seemed unable to push this thing that was bothering him away like he had last time they had seen him distraught, Zayn was starting to worry for his new friend. He watched as Niall stood up and put his plate in the dishwasher after finishing his food. He mumbled something inaudible to them before going back to the couch. Zayn repeated Niall’s actions, and soon all of the boys were done with breakfast.   
“Let’s go swimming!” Louis suggested, already running to go change.   
The rest of them agreed and went to change as well, but Zayn stopped along the way to let Niall know.   
“The boys want to go swimming. Just thought I’d let you know in case you felt up to it,” Zayn told him.   
Niall smiled again, and Zayn could tell it wasn’t genuine. “Sounds fun. I’ll be out soon,” Niall said. He really did. He figured that maybe the cold water and the sun would help wake him up a little bit. He also didn’t want the boys to be concerned about him, especially Zayn. They all had far more to worry about than Niall’s stupid accidents.   
So, Niall got up and dressed in his swim trunks before going to meet the rest of his new bandmates outside by the pool. He smiled at the sight of the other four boys playing chicken. Liam looked up from their game when he saw Niall coming out just long enough for Harry to give Zayn a particularly hard shove and for Liam to lose his balance, causing both he and Zayn to fall backwards into the pool. That was enough to even break Niall out of his exhaustion and grouchy-ness for a while. He laughed loudly and set his towel down before running and jumping into the pool, splashing the other boys. That of course started a huge splash war among all of them. Niall had an amazing time and felt more awake than he had all morning. He was right in thinking that the sun and water would wake him up.   
Next thing he knew, Harry was suggesting they play a game that involved all of them running and jumping into the pool. Niall and Louis easily agreed, while Liam and Zayn vouched to watch and referree. Niall got out of the pool and played along with Louis and Harry, still having plenty of fun. After a few rounds of the game, however, his eyes started to droop again. He was starting to get more sleepy than he was before. Apparently the adrenaline and energy he’d felt was quickly fading. He continued, however, not wanting them to know that anything was wrong.   
The next time they played, Niall almost immediately slipped and nearly fell on the concrete as it was gettingn wet from them getting in and out of the pool so much. Niall was properly shocked and a little scared from it.   
“Niall, be careful,” Zayn said warningly. The last thing they needed was a trip to the hospital.   
“I’m fine,” Niall insisted, biting back a yawn.  
“How about one more round before lunch?” Louis suggested, and they all agreed.   
All it took was that one more time for Niall to slip again, but this time he actually fell. It all happened so fast that no one knew how to react. One second, Niall was running into the pool with the biggest grin on his face and the next, he was on his back on the ground looking up in shock in complete silence. It was a bit like watching a baby get hurt. He looked around for a second and after futile attempts to keep his cries in, he started sobbing. Zayn and Liam both quickly got out of the water while Louis asked if he should call an ambulance and Harry ran to get a towel and ice for Niall.   
“Niall, shh, are you okay?” Liam asked, panicking a little bit. They were just four teenage boys after all, none of them knew about medical stuff or taking care of hurt people.   
Niall just shook his head, gasping for breath like the wind had been knocked out of him, which it probably had been.   
“What hurts, Ni?” Zayn asked, quite a bit more calm.   
“My back and my knee,” Niall sniffled, curling in in himself as he tried to muffle his cries. Zayn nodded in understanding. He told Louis not to call any ambulance because Niall hadn’t said his head hurt, and Zayn hadn’t seen it hit the pavement anyway. Niall had already told them all about his knee problems; that came out the night they all talked about injuries they’d had as a kid.   
Harry finally came back with a towel, and Liam and Zayn worked together to stand Niall up and mostly carry him back inside the house. They settled the crying boy onto the couch with a few towels under him to keep it from getting wet. Liam left the room to look for Tylenol while Zayn told Louis and Harry to give Niall some space.   
Niall was exhausted, but more than that, he was mortified. His newfound friends probably thought he was such a baby, crying over slipping and falling. He couldn’t stop, partly because it really did hurt, partly because he was tired, but mostly because he was embarrassed. Zayn tried hushing him from across the room, but it just made Niall more upset when he saw that Zayn was digging through his bag.   
“No, don’t touch my stuff,” Niall cried.   
Zayn’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he turned around to look at Niall. “Why not? I’m just looking for something more comfortable for you to wear,” Zayn said. “Don’t you have any sweats or anything, babe?” Zayn asked, accidentally slipping in the pet name in his his worry for him.  
“Don’t have anymore,” Niall said, still watching Zayn desperately.   
“What happened to them?” Zayn asked, even more confused.   
“They’re…dirty,” Niall said, just trying to pull Zayn away from where his pull-ups where hidden in his bag.   
“Right,” Zayn said, his voice still full of concern, but also a little suspicion. “I’ll just go get you some of mine,” he said, turning around to zip Niall’s bag closed. As soon as he did, however, one of the pull-ups fell out. Zayn looked with wide eyes from it to Niall and back again. Niall just screwed his eyes shut and prayed that this wasn’t actually happening.   
Zayn quickly composed himself, trying to think logically but also not upset Niall anymore than he already was. He quickly put all of the pieces together; Niall having to get up to change in the middle of the night, him not having anymore sweatpants clean, his obvious exhaustion, his careful way around the boys when they all had the “sleepover,” the reason Niall didn’t want Zayn looking through his bag. It was all starting to make a little bit of sense, and Zayn felt like such an idiot for not seeing that something was wrong earlier.   
“Do you need this, Ni?” he asked gently, trying to be delicate and calm as to not upset him further.   
It, of course, didn’t work, and Niall was sobbing again into his hands. Zayn took that as a yes and ran off with the pull-up in hand to get some sweats and t-shirt. He made it back in time to intercept Liam coming from the bathroom. He quickly explained that he was going to move Niall into his and Liam’s room, asking if he would help. Liam agreed that was best, especially since Niall’s back was hurting. They both helped him into the bedroom that Zayn and Liam shared, sitting him down on the bed. Liam gave him the Tylenol he’d found and left Zayn to helping Niall since he seemed insistent on doing it himself.   
Niall just continued crying as Zayn undressed him. He didn’t really care that he was seeing him naked; with five boys all living in the same small house with one bathroom, it was pretty inevitable. And Niall and Zayn had shared a hotel room for over two weeks. Zayn hushed him fruitlessly as he dressed him in his own clothes. Niall was starting to calm down, but Zayn could tell that it was because of his dropping eyes as his exhaustion was overtaking him. Zayn helped him lay back on the bed, deciding that it was probably better to just let Niall sleep instead of talking about anything. He sighed and stroked Niall’s wet hair away from his face as his breaths slowly evened out.   
There was something about Niall that had Zayn couldn’t quite figure out, but he was prepared to stick around and figure him out.


	4. Chapter Four

Two days after the “incident” as Zayn referred to it as, they were on a train back to London. During those two days, Niall had bounced between clinging to Zayn and ignoring him completely. Zayn knew that he must be confused, so he didn’t take offense to anything. He was there for Niall when he wanted him, and tried to agree with his wishes when Niall decided to act like he didn’t even know Zayn.   
Meanwhile, to save himself the embarrassment, Niall had been avoiding sleeping. Of course, this made him constantly cranky, but he didn’t know what else to do to keep from leaking through his pull-up without his knowledge. It was bad enough that Zayn had found out he wore them; the last thing he needed was for more of the boys to find out or for Zayn to discover that he had so little control that he wet so much it leaked. All Niall knew was that this couldn’t go on much longer. He was exhausted all the time, and it was starting to not only affect his attitude but also his health.   
As they boarded the plane, Zayn was trying to catch Niall’s eye to find out if today was a day Niall was going to ignore him or not. When Niall refused to look up at him, he sighed and put his bag up. Harry and Louis had already sat in their seats next to each other, and Liam had sat down as well, already having put his bag away. Liam sat with his head back and his headphones in, and with one final glance back at Niall, Zayn sat down next to Liam, thinking that maybe Niall just wanted to be alone.   
Niall’s stomach dropped as he looked up to see Zayn sitting down in the seat next to Liam. He understood why Zayn wouldn’t want to sit next to him; Zayn probably thought Niall was a freak and Niall hadn’t even been very far to him the last couple of days. His shoulders slumped, and he sat down in the seats behind Liam and Zayn by himself. He brought his knees into his chest and looked out the window, not moving until he felt the train start to. He allowed himself to slowly slip his eyes shut out of pure exhaustion, promising himself that he was just resting his eyes, and he wouldn’t fall asleep. He succeeded in this for all of two or three minutes before the movement of the train had lulled him into the most peaceful sleep he’d had in days.   
~~~~  
Niall woke up with a start, standing from his seat in a panic. Zayn, who was sitting in front of him, heard him gasp and turned around to see what had happened. He frowned when he saw Niall yanking at his hair as tears silently made their way down his face. Zayn closed his laptop and stood up to help.   
"Niall," Zayn said softly, trying not to wake anyone else up and trying not to startle Niall. It obviously didn’t work, because Niall seemed to jump about ten feet in the air before turning to look at Zayn with wide eyes. "What’s wrong?"  
"I just… Nothing," Niall said, trying to cross his legs inconspicuously to hide his damp pants. Zayn followed his movements with his eyes and frowned when he saw the state of Niall’s pants. He was obviously a little bit shocked, but he was more concerned with calming Niall down and cleaning him up. Obviously, he already knew about the pull-ups, so it wasn’t like it was something totally new.   
"Come on, let me help you," Zayn said, taking Niall’s hand before he could refuse. He led him to the bathroom after stopping to grab both his own and Niall’s bags. Niall stumbled along behind Zayn, looking like a toddler as he held his hands in front of his crotch. He was just thankful that the few people that were on the train were asleep or otherwise occupied. Zayn opened the door to the small bathroom and set the bags down on the floor after helping Niall sit on the closed toilet seat. He dug around in both bags before standing back up with a pull-up in one hand and some of his own sweats in the other. Niall couldn’t stop his blush, so he looked down at his hands, trying to ignore the way Zayn was looking at him like a concerned parent.   
"Stand up so we can get you into these, yeah?" Zayn said gently, pulling Niall up and getting him out of his wet clothes. He pulled the pull-up on around Niall’s hips after throwing the wet one away. Niall hid his face in his hands in embarrassment. He couldn’t believe he was allowing Zayn to help him change for the second time now. Zayn worked as fast as he could in the confined space of the bathroom and was soon done. He straightened up and noticed Niall’s wet cheeks. He frowned and wiped away his tears before saying, "Let’s go sit back down."  
Niall hesitated, but asked what was on his mind because there was no way this could get anymore embarrassing. “Will you sit with me?” he asked timidly.   
"Yeah, of course. Don’t think Liam will miss me too much," Zayn joked, gesturing to Liam’s sleeping form.   
Niall nodded a little and bit his lip before he sat back down in his seat that he had luckily managed to not get wet. Zayn unfolded the blanket from his bag and draped it over both himself and Niall. Niall sat up straight, not wanting to fall asleep again even though there was still well over an hour to go on the train.   
"Thanks," he whispered to Zayn, not knowing what to say, but feeling awkward saying nothing.   
"No problem," Zayn smiled at him. Niall didn’t know why, but for some reason the nonchalant way he’d said it made him upset. This was something that he was so embarrassed about and that no one else knew about, and Zayn was acting like it was no big deal.   
"It is a problem though. I wear pull-ups and have accidents and it’s weird but you act like it’s no big deal. Why?" Niall ranted a little bit, blushing bright red when he realized what he’d just professed.   
Zayn frowned, but answered him anyway. “I’m not freaked out or anything. It’s really not a big deal to me, and it shouldn’t be to anyone else either. None of this makes me think less of you as a person, Niall.”  
Niall suddenly felt overcome with emotions, relief, and exhaustion all at the same time, and to his humiliation, he started to cry again. Zayn suddenly noticed the looming dark circles under Niall’s eyes, and he pulled his head down onto his own shoulder without thinking.   
"How about you get some rest? It looks like you haven’t slept in days," Zayn said, feeling Niall tense at his words. He internally sighed at the thought of them being true and had to ask. "You haven’t slept, have you?" Zayn asked gently, suddenly feeling paternal toward the young boy that wasn’t actually all that much younger than him. He felt Niall slowly shake his head "no," and actually sighed, petting Niall’s hair a few times. "Does this happen a lot?" he asked, not knowing if Niall would answer.   
Niall definitely hesitated, not knowing whether he should respond. “Only recently,” he whispered into Zayn’s shoulder almost inaudibly.   
"Well, you haven’t drank anything recently, yeah? Just relax, take a nap," Zayn told him, and Niall’s eyes were already closed as he fell asleep peacefully with his head on Zayn’s shoulder.   
Zayn, however, stayed wide awake thinking about Niall. He was actually glad that he knew about this. He wanted Niall to have someone that he felt like he could trust more deeply while he was away from home, and he was more than willing to be that for him. Zayn had always had a caring nature, and even though he would never admit it to his friends back home, he loved taking care of his little sisters. Even if Niall was nothing like one of his sisters, he was still happy to help him however he wanted. Right now, though, it seemed like Niall just needed someone to hug him and make sure he was alright and taken care of, because even if he was just a year and a half older than Niall, he felt like he needed to protect Niall, especially when they were about to be thrown into this world of stardom through the X Factor.   
~~~~  
Niall woke up a while later with his head on Zayn’s shoulder to find that he was in fact still dry. He opened his eyes to see Louis standing right next to his and Zayn’s seats, looking down at Niall with what was almost a smirk.   
"Aww, look at baby Niall. Isn’t he the cutest?" Louis teased (kind of), while Niall’s face got red and Zayn rolled his eyes.   
"Like you and Harry weren’t up there cuddled up to each other," Zayn pointed out, but Louis waved it off.   
"That’s different, Zayn. That was a two party cuddle, Niall here is just using you as a pillow," Louis said.   
Niall turned his face into Zayn, only half realizing that he was just proving Louis’ point further, but he didn’t care because he was tired and Zayn was comfortable and he never wanted to leave Zayn’s arms.   
"Whatever, Louis," Zayn said good-naturedly, rubbing Niall’s back with the hand he had wrapped around him. "We’re here anyway, so let’s go," Zayn said, mostly to Niall, but it was relevant to the others as well.   
Zayn helped Niall up and folded the blanket while Niall rubbed his eyes tiredly with his fists. Zayn smiled because how could anyone resist smiling at Niall when he was that cute? He picked up both of their suitcases, helping Niall with his before following Niall off the train. They made their way through the busy train station, looking for the person that was supposed to be their driver. They located him quickly and were loaded into the SUV along with their suitcases.   
Niall quickly crawled in next to Zayn, curling into him slightly. Zayn just relaxed and allowed Niall to get comfortable for the drive to wherever they were going. Niall closed his eyes once he was comfortable and fell asleep again on Zayn.  
"What’s up with this?" Liam asked, gesturing between the two of them when he knew Niall was asleep. "He wasn’t talking to any of us the last few days, especially you."  
Zayn just looked down at Niall’s peaceful face, smiling lightly. “He just needed someone,” was all Zayn said, knowing that none of them would ask questions.


	5. Chapter Five

It took three days of living in the same small room as three other boys that had no idea about Niall’s issue for him to break down. Zayn, of course, saw it coming from a mile away. He was the only one in the group that knew about what was going on with Niall, and he was also apparently the only light sleeper, which got annoying when you shared a room with four other people. He was the one that heard Niall get up every night, sniffling and digging through his suitcase for a different pair of pants. Zayn would always just sit back and wait; Niall would always come to him if he needed help, and he didn’t want to push anything on him that he didn’t want. Three nights in a row Niall wet himself through the pull up, and finally Zayn had to speak up.   
“Ni, why don’t you call your mom?” Zayn asked him on the fourth morning as Niall was stuffing his pants into a dirty clothes bag to wash later on. “Maybe she would know what to do or how to help you better than I can.”  
Niall’s face crumpled, and Zayn immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say. “I don’t want her to know I’m such a baby,” Niall whimpered, wiping his face quickly with the back of his hand.   
“You’re not a baby, Ni,” Zayn said, moving off the bed to stand in front of Niall. “I just think it would be a relief for you to not have that on your chest, yeah?”   
“I guess,” Niall mumbled, looking down to avoid Zayn’s eyes.   
“Good,” Zayn said with a smile, pulling Niall in for a short hug. “I know you won’t regret it.   
Ten minutes later, Zayn was sitting with Niall on his bed once again coaxing him into calling his mom. Niall stared nervously down at the phone, stalling as much as he could. Unfortunately for him, his phone rang and his mom’s contact lit up the screen as she had apparently decided to contact him as well. Niall’s eyes widened and filled with panic as he looked up at Zayn for guidance.   
“Answer it, then,” Zayn said gently, rubbing Niall’s back. “You know what to say.”  
Niall took a deep breath and nodded, mostly to himself, before answering the phone with a shaky, “Hi, mom.”  
Zayn listened intently to the one side of the conversation he could hear, smiling at Niall reassuringly every once in a while.   
“Uh, yeah. Mom?” Niall asked nervously after wrapping up the small talk. “I’ve just been having…problems with my, you know, night accidents,” Niall blurted out, stumbling and stuttering over the words. Niall was quiet for a few minutes as he listened to his mother’s response before speaking again. “It’s been leaking,” he muttered, picking at the blanket in his hands.   
Zayn couldn’t hear the reply, but whatever she had said made Niall’s cheeks turn impossibly more red.   
“I don’t know what else to do,” Niall finally whimpered, bringing his hand up that wasn’t holding the phone to cover his face.   
“Aw,” Zayn murmured, pulling Niall against his chest.   
“I can try,” Niall sniffled into the phone, and Zayn was suddenly curious what his mom had said.   
“Okay, I will. Love you too,” Niall said into the phone, face still pressed into Zayn’s chest. He hung up the phone and sighed, sitting up to readjust himself in Zayn’s arms. They both maneuvered so that the smaller boy was sitting in Zayn’s lap.   
“So what’s the plan?” Zayn asked after a moment.   
“I’m, uh, supposed to go to the store and get, like, um, thicker nappies I guess,” Niall said, picking at his fingers nervously as he spoke.   
“What store?” Zayn asked, holding both of Niall’s hands still in one of his.   
“Some place across town,” Niall said, finally looking up at Zayn shyly.   
“Let’s go then,” Zayn smiled.   
*****  
“I don’t understand. What’s the difference?” Zayn asked himself as he stood in the middle of the aisle with two different packages of nappies in his hands. Niall stood next to him, red faced and bouncing on his toes anxiously, really not wanting to be in the store.   
“Let’s just get both, it’s fine,” Niall rushed.   
“Are you sure?” Zayn asked, looking concerned. He really was trying to help Niall in any way he could, and he wished Niall would let him more easily and stop fighting him about it.   
“Yes. I just want to leave,” Niall said, taking both packages from Zayn and throwing them in the cart.   
Zayn nodded and followed behind, watching as Niall paid for the items with the deepest blush he’d ever seen with his “emergency credit card.” When they were done checking out, they walked back out to the car, Zayn getting in on the driver’s side, before leaving.   
They rode back to the contestants’ house in comfortable silence with the radio playing quietly in the background. They both got out of the car when they got back, Niall grabbing the plastic bag that contained the nappies, before heading into the house.  
“Hey, where’d you two go?” Harry asked from the couch in the main room as they walked in.   
Zayn gestured for Niall to head up the the room as he walked toward the other boys who were playing video games. “We just ran out to the store for, ya know, the essentials,” he explained, leaning against the back of the couch.   
“Aw, did Zaynie run out of shampoo?” Louis joked, and Zayn stuck his tongue out at him.   
“I’m going to go up and get ready for bed. Early day tomorrow, remember,” Zayn said over his shoulder as he turned around. The other boys groaned at Zayn’s reminder. Tomorrow was the day. They were performing tomorrow to determine if they would move on to the love shows, and, frankly, they were all scared shitless. They were as ready as they could be, though, and they had practiced all day long the last three days. Zayn sighed before he entered their shared bedroom.   
When he walked in, Niall was laying on Zayn’s bed with his back to the door. Zayn smiled softly at the sight and went to sit with him. When he got there, he saw that Niall was crying, much to his surprise.   
“What’s wrong, babe?” Zayn asked, rubbing Niall’s back.   
“I’m tired and I can’t go to sleep without a nappy and I couldn’t get it on because there’s tapes and stuff and it was hard and I need help,” Niall rambled, hicupping and taking shaky breaths.   
“Okay,” Zayn said slowly. “Let me help you, then. There’s no need getting all worked up, yeah?”   
Niall nodded, feeling helpless. He wasn’t bothered about Zayn changing him at this point; he had helped him with his leaky pull ups and enough times by now.   
“Alright. Let’s go to the bathroom, then. Pick out which nappy you want, okay?” Zayn said gently. He stood up and helped Niall stand from the bed as well. Niall took a deep breath and rubbed at his red and tired eyes with his fists. He turned and grabbed a nappy from the bag they were all in. Zayn put his arm around Niall’s waist and led him into the bathroom. When they got there, Niall looked at him with slight panic, his eyes darting all around the room.   
“Shh, just lay down, and we’ll get this figured out,” Zayn soothed, trying to calm Niall’s nerves.   
“Okay,” Niall breathed out, sitting down and laying back on the tile.   
“Just relax, okay?” Zayn said, kneeling down in front of him. He pulled Niall’s pants and boxers down to his knees, rubbing his stomach and shushing him when Niall whimpered and screwed his eyes shut. “Can you lift your hips for just a second?” Zayn asked. Niall sniffled and hesitated for a moment before doing it. He quickly slipped the nappy underneath him and taped it up properly. He could see how Niall had struggled with it himself.   
“We’ll have to get you one if those changing mats to go on the ground,” Zayn said lightly. Niall didn’t respond, so Zayn proceeded to take off his pants and boxers the rest if the way before putting his pants back on him. “All done!” Zayn said cheerily. “That wasn’t so bad,” he said, pulling Niall up to give him a hug. “Let’s go to bed now. We have a big day tomorrow.”  
Niall was suddenly wide awake at Zayn’s reminder. He walked back to the room with more anxiety now than he ever had over the nappy change. Zayn turned to Niall to tell him goodnight and noticed that Niall was standing and staring wide-eyed at the wall.   
“Hey, it’s going to be okay. No matter what happens, everything will be fine,” Zayn said, picking up on his worries like he always somehow did.   
“I’ll never see any of you again if we don’t make it,” Niall mumbled, feeling tears swell in his eyes again. He was getting frustrated at himself for crying so much. He couldn’t believe Zayn wanted anything to do with him with how much of a baby he was being.   
“We’ll stay in touch, Ni,” Zayn said, smiling at the fact that Niall was more concerned about not seeing the other boys again before being upset about not achieving the dream, the main reason he came out for the show.   
Niall shrugged and looked down before saying, “I’m going to go to bed.”  
“Okay,” Zayn said softly. He caught Niall’s hand as he walked by so that he could give him a hug. “I mean it, Niall. We’re going to get through, yeah? And then there’s nothing to worry about.”  
Niall just hoped Zayn was right.


	6. Chapter Six

That night was the first night since they had been put together as a group that Niall slept all the way through the night. He woke up a little panicked at first because it was morning and he hadn’t woken up to change his pull-up or pants. He sat up and got off the bed before sighing in relief. The thicker nappies really had worked. And Niall’s first reaction was to tell Zayn.  
“Zayn,” Niall whisper yelled into Zayn’s ear after he’d sat on Zayn’s bed. “Zayn, it worked.”

“Hmm?” Zayn hummed, stretching his arms above his head and adjusting to Niall’s face being right over his own.

“The…you know, they worked,” Niall said giddily.

“That’s great, babe,” Zayn said, not totally processing what Niall had said in his sleep-fogged mind. He unconsciously started to roll back over in bed, but was officially woken up by Niall’s incessant tapping on his shoulder. “Yes, Niall?” he asked with one eye open.

“Well, can you, uh, help me?” he asked nervously, all of his previous glow dissipating into a bright blush.

“Oh,” Zayn realized, sitting up, now fully awake. “Let’s go before the other boys wake up, yeah?” he said, holding out his hand for Niall once he’d stood up.

Zayn grabbed a pull-up from the drawer next to his bed before he led Niall to the bathroom down the hall and checked around before shutting and locking the door. When he turned around, Niall was already laying on the ground with his eyes closed and his fingers twisted together on top of his stomach. Zayn reminded himself again that the next time they go out to the store, they should get a mat of some sort so Niall doesn’t have to keep laying on the ground.

“Is this okay for during the day, love?” Zayn asked, making sure it was okay with Niall. Zayn thought that maybe Niall just needed a slight reminder for right now as he didn’t have many daytime accidents, and a pull-up would be easier to conceal. Niall opened his eyes enough to see what Zayn was talking about before nodding and screwing his eyes shut again.

Zayn smiled and quickly slid Niall’s sweatpants down his legs and untaped the nappy from his hips. He leaned across Niall for the wet wipes that were under the sink before cleaning him up and helping him stand in front of Zayn. He guided Niall’s hands to his shoulders so he could steady himself and tapped Niall’s legs when he was ready to have him step into the pull-up since Niall insisted on keeping his eyes shut. Zayn sighed and stood up once he was done. He walked over to the sink and washed his hands before turning around to face Niall who was looking down and kicking his toes against the floor.

“You don’t have to be so embarrassed, Ni,” Zayn said. “I told you I’d do this for you.”

“Just nervous,” Niall mumbled.

“There’s no reason to be,” Zayn said, pulling Niall into his chest and kissing the side of his head briefly. “We’ll be so great that he can’t say no,” Zayn finished, hoping he was right.

 

“I’ve gone with my heart,” Simon smiled. “You’re through.”

Everything from the moment those words came from Simon’s mouth to the first day of the live shows two weeks later was a complete blur of rehearsals, practices, lessons, and more rehearsals for Zayn. All he could remember about immediately after was looking into Niall’s excitedly shining eyes and smiling the biggest smile he ever has before saying, “I told you so,” and pulling Niall into a big hug.

And now Niall’s fear from that day had returned.

It was their first live TV performance, and all Niall had wanted to do most of the day was lay down with Zayn when they didn’t have to be doing last-minute rehearsals. Although not much had changed in the last two weeks between Niall and Zayn, the constant cuddling definitely was. At first, Zayn didn’t notice. It would start with Niall laying his head against Zayn’s shoulder or wrapping his arms around on of Zayn’s or laying his head down in Zayn’s lap while they played Xbox. 

But then it started to get more obvious.

The first time Zayn really noticed was when they were sitting on the couch in the main room watching a movie one night with the rest of the boys. Niall was sitting next to Zayn when the movie started, and twenty minutes in, he had his head on Zayn’s shoulder. As time passed and Niall got sleepier, he ended up curled into Zayn with his head buried into Zayn’s neck and his legs half in Zayn’s lap and one arm thrown possessively over Zayn’s chest. Of course Zayn noticed, but he wasn’t uncomfortable with it. He was glad that Niall was accepting some kind of affection because he clearly needed it. He wouldn’t have even said anything if Louis would have kept his giant mouth shut.

“Look who’s all cuddled up and cozy again,” Louis teased from the other side of the room as the credits rolled.

Zayn shot Louis a hard look, but it was too late. Niall was already wide awake and on the other side of the couch. “Sorry,” Niall muttered to Zayn before standing up. “Going to bed,” he announced to the rest of them before trudging to their shared bedroom. Zayn sighed and waited for a moment before following Niall and hoping none of them would come for at least a few minutes. Zayn walked into the bedroom, but didn’t find Niall. He remembered immediately about the nappy, and quickly went down the hall to the bathroom.

“Niall?” he called, knocking lightly on the bathroom door. He was surprised when the door swung open to reveal a distraught and pants-less Niall. “Can I come in?” he asked cautiously, not wanting to upset him anymore. Niall nodded and sniffled, hiding behind the door. Zayn slid in through the small opening Niall provided him and closed the door behind him. “Let’s get you all taken care of for bed, yeah?” Zayn said, gesturing for Niall to lay down and taking the nappy from his hands. Niall nodded again and laid down where he usually did, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. Zayn quickly fastened the nappy around his hips and helped him stand and put on his sweat pants again.

“I’m sorry,” Niall said so quietly that Zayn almost didn’t hear.

“What for, Ni?” Zayn frowned.

“Dunno,” Niall mumbled. “Just you having to take care of me all the time like I’m a baby.”

“I’ve told you before that I’m doing this for you, yeah? I don’t mind any of it. And you’re not a baby, you just need some extra attention is all,” Zayn smiled, lifting Niall’s chin up. “And Louis can shut his big mouth,” he added, cheering inside when Niall grinned a bit.

“Okay,” Niall agreed easily, leaning his head into Zayn’s chest and allowing Zayn to hug him.

“Let’s go to bed now, how’s that sound?” Zayn asked him.

Niall shrugged and wrapped his arms around Zayn in response. Zayn bit his lip, but then said what he was really thinking.

“How about you go lay in my bed so we can cuddle like we were before Louis interrupted while I go chat with the boys?” Zayn suggested.

Niall shrugged and bit his lip nervously. The cuddles sounded nice…but what if the other boys made fun of him?

“I’ll decide then,” Zayn smiled softly. “Go lay in my bed, and I’ll be there in a minute,” he said decisively, not wanting to give Niall a choice because he wouldn’t pick what he really wanted anyway.

Niall nodded, and Zayn tucked the fact that Niall did better with directions than he did with choices into the back of his mind. He would need to remember that again for times like these. He watched Niall go into their room and crack the door behind him before walking back to the main room where the rest of the boys were still sitting and now playing Xbox.

Louis opened his mouth to say something, but Zayn cut him off. “Niall’s feeling a little homesick, and he’s going to sleep in my bed tonight,” Zayn fibbed just a little. “Please don’t say anything; he’s already upset.”

“Louis is sorry,” Harry spoke up innocently, catching on to the look Liam had been giving them ever since Niall left the room because whenever Louis was in trouble with Liam, Harry always seemed to be as well.

“It’s alright. It’s taken care of. I’d just like it if everyone was a little more understanding for Niall,” Zayn sighed. They all nodded and proceeded to say their goodnights to Zayn before going back to their game. It was then that Zayn realized it was only 9:30, and they didn’t usually go to bed until around 11, which meant that he and Niall had at least an hour without the rest of the boys.

He walked into the room and was pleased to see Niall laying in Zayn’s bed, facing the wall with his blanket hugged to his chest. It was a tight squeeze, but Zayn slid in behind him and let Niall readjust so that he was curled into Zayn’s side. “Better?” Zayn asked into Niall’s hair.

“Yeah,” Niall whispered, curling his hand tightly around some of Zayn’s t-shirt.

That was nearly a week ago, and now they were caught in a similar situation backstage. They were all waiting in line to get their hair and makeup done, and Zayn and Niall had somehow ended up at the back of the line. Niall’s head was in Zayn’s lap, and Zayn was running his fingers through Niall’s hair soothingly, the only difference being how relaxed Niall was now that the rest of the boys were used to seeing them this way. They had all come to accept that it was just the way Zayn and Niall were, just like Harry and Louis.

Zayn knew how nervous Niall was about the performance, but it wasn’t like the other boys’ nervousness for their own parts, but for the fact that if people didn’t vote for them, they would all be going home. And what would that mean for Niall? Probably losing Zayn and the other three boys that had come to be some of his best friends over the past month or two. And that scared him more than the band being unsuccessful.

Niall’s fingers scratched against Zayn’s jeans subconsciously as he watched the hair stylist fluff up Harry’s hair. Zayn smiled down at him when he caught Niall’s eye, and he moved his hand from Niall’s hair to his face. “Whatcha thinking about?” he asked Niall.

“Nothing,” Niall shrugged.

“Liar,” Zayn said half-heartedly, tapping Niall’s nose.

Niall scrunched up his nose, feigning distaste. He secretly loved when Zayn did those type of things but knew it would be weird if he said so. “Just don’t want to go home,” Niall said. “I mean, I do, but that would mean –“

“I know what you mean, Ni,” Zayn reassured him, already having had this discussion with him a few times. “We’re just going to go out there and have the best performance we can and know that it’s enough. And people will love it. How could they not when they see your cute face?” Zayn joked, pinching one of Niall’s cheeks lightly. Niall blushed, not so much from what Zayn said but because that was another one of those things he loved.

But again, Niall said nothing because he had come to trust Zayn. He had been right before so Niall just hoped that the same thing would happen again.


End file.
